


Oblivion

by lost_riddles



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Character Turned Into a Ghost, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fun, Haunted Manor, Hurt/Comfort, It was a long time ago, Keith & Shiro (Voltron) are Siblings, Keith plays the violin and the piano, Keithtober, M/M, No angst linked to their death though, Romelle is the owner of the manor, Scaring people, They're almost all ghost, keith pov
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-10
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2020-12-07 14:37:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20977535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lost_riddles/pseuds/lost_riddles
Summary: When Keith, Shiro, Lance, Pidge and Hunk died, they all became ghosts, haunting a giant manor for fun. They met the owner of the manor, Romelle, who made an attraction out of this, becoming their friend along the way. Everything was good until Romelle received a mysterious letter from an unknown family member, claiming she owned the manor as much as Romelle did.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't put the major character death warning but obviously, if they're ghosts, they died. It's only mentioned, and I won't go into details about it as it's not what the story is about so don't worry, no angst about that.  
I'm writing this story for Keithtober, or spookeithtober, as I named it, so it'll be Keith centric, but the others will be there a lot too.  
I'll continue this as soon as I can and will try to finish it before the end of Keithtober, but I can't promise anything as I have a lot of work for college, so it might continue during November as well.  
I'll add tags with each chapter if it's needed and if a warning needs to be added I'll let you know in the note at the beginning of the chapter in question.

Closing his eyes, Keith lets himself be fully transported by the music he creates with him hands, firmly but gently holding his faithful violin while its beautiful sound surrounds him. It's so loud he can't hear anything else in the manor, all his strength focused on staying just solid enough for the precious instrument not to fall on the floor.

He knows they're coming, though, so he has to be careful, but he also trust his friends to warn him when the visitors are close enough. He slowly opens his eyes, suddenly suspecting an interruption, letting the muscle memory continue the melody for him.

It's a music Pidge found for him not long ago on Romelle's computer, and hearing it a couple of times had been enough for him to learn it. He knows he's a great musician, the violin and the piano are almost parts of him now. One could say it's normal, after playing it for almost one hundred years. Ten years of learning it with a teacher while he was still alive, then years of teaching himself.

When they arrived in the abandoned manor a few days after the accident, they were all pretty devastated, thankful to be together, but thinking about everything they were leaving behind. Then it was just too much for Keith, who decided to leave to explore. Shiro wanted to come with him, but Keith refused, wanting to be alone.

He wasn't looking for anything in particular, but when he got to the attic, he saw that majestic, old piano. He looked around, as if he could feel it, then saw the violin, miraculously intact. He tried to take it with shaking hands, but went right through it, obviously. Frustrated, he gave everything he had to just hold the damn thing. He _needed_ it.

When finally, the violin moved in his hand, he felt a wave of relief and happiness, then saw the instrument fall back, his own hand that looked more solid a moment before fading into nothingness and he lost consciousness.

Waking up had been weird. At first, he couldn't move as he was still so translucent, and someone was screaming, which wasn't reassuring. Then, he saw someone kneeling in front of him, and felt better seeing Shiro. He put his hand on Keith's arm, a worried frown on his face, and slowly, his arm became more solid. He could feel again.

Alerted by Shiro's screaming, their friends came rushing into the room, and Shiro told them to touch Keith, which would have been the weirdest experience of his life if he hadn't died and became a ghost just a few days before. It was okay, though, he trusted them, and felt better, enough to move again.

He took Shiro's hand to get up, almost falling when he let go, but Lance was right behind him, ready to welcome him in his familiar arms, and Keith didn't move away to explain what happened. He felt those arms holding him a bit tightly as they understood he faded completely, as they looked into the attic to find nothing before he reappeared in front of Shiro's eyes, but they were all amazed by that discovery because now, they knew they could interact with objects. They just needed to train.

So they did that, a lot. A first, it was frustrating, like there was no amelioration. But now, they learned to handle their strength, and they're having the fun of their.. Well, death.

They already started haunting the place unconsciously as they went there to stay as their new home. It was big, abandoned, creepy, perfect, but one day, they decided to take it further and really _haunt _it. Making noises, scaring the few people who dared come close, and rapidly, the place had a reputation of haunted manor. Adventurous teenagers were coming to explore, and they were playing with them until they left yelling.

Until one day, years later, when Romelle came. She was the young owner of the manor, they learned, as her parents and brother died in a car crash. Keith and his friends couldn't help but remember the circonstances of their own death, so they took pity of her and didn't scare her. So wrong of them, because that was exactly what she wanted from them, as she screamed at them to just manifest themselves. They realized later she thought they were her late family.

They felt bad for her: they had each other, but she was alone. So they took her under their wings and made a deal with her, talking to her through her computer, writing messages for her. She kept the secret of their existence, let them live there, and she could open the manor to the public, making an attraction out of them, a big show where people pay to be scared to death. It was twelve years ago, and they all grew fond of her.

So now, Keith's playing the opening part of the show, drawing their guests in the depth of the manor. Some people won't take the bait, of course, staying outside, exploring the garden, but it's okay, Pidge will take care of them.

She found a great song, sad, just a bit creepy, unknown, with a violin part and a piano part. As Keith is close to the end of the violin part, Lance appears in the attic, casually coming through the floor. It stopped being weird so long ago that Keith just smiles at him, receiving a wink in exchange. It's one of the greatest thing with their whole situation: they get to be together forever, and after having been dating for so long they can't even remember a time where they weren't, still loving each other like the first day, working so well with the other that it's like they're two parts of the same being.

Lance walks to him, predicting Keith's move so he arrives right behind him without being punched. "They're here." He says in Keith's ear, and the musician finishes his bar before stopping, putting his violin down on the piano next to him.

He immediately sits on the piano's stool, continuing the melody. It's only seconds before the first visitors arrive, steps unsure, then stopping when they see the piano, its keys moving on their own, and the violin just above.

Some start to freak out, but the night is only starting. The violin could be just here for decoration, the sound they heard could have been a CD playing. And it's easy to trick a piano so it looks like its playing on its own. But that's the point. They don't want their guests to run away so early.

Lance moves away from him, walking near the wall to touch just for a moment the visitor closest to the wall, who jerks away with a scream. Keith stops playing, as if bothered by the noice, and the visitors stop moving completely, not daring doing more than breathing. Then, Keith stands up, taking the stool with him.

The guests's response is immediate: they yell and run away.

Keith laughs at the same time Lance does. They join each other in the middle of the room, slapping hands in the air as a victory sign, but not letting go of each other's hand. It something they discovered rapidly: touching not only shares their energy but helps them recharge faster.

Lance smiles at him, pulling him close with the hand still holding Keith's and okay, maybe recharging energy is not the only reason they're doing this. "I missed you." Lance whispers in his ear as he wraps his arms around Keith.

Keith chuckles. "We literally saw each other five minutes ago." He mocks him, but he understands. They're so used to being in each other's space that when they turn around and the other is missing, it's just wrong. That, and Lance has always been a bit overdramatic.

"Ten. I'm pretty sure it was ten." Lance contradicts him, preventing him to add anything by kissing him gently. Sometimes, Keith is thankful they don't have to stop to catch their breath anymore.

It's more screaming that stop them, reminding them where they are and what time it is: spooky time.

They decide to explore a bit, looking for lonely visitors: they are the best. Most people come in group and stay in group, holding to each other firmly. But some like the challenge of wandering alone in the manor, and Keith is all for giving them what they want.

They're lucky: it's finally fall, so the nights are longer, darker, and the wind generally strong enough around the manor that it contributes to make people think they're hearing things. It's what catch Keith's attention, as he sees two teens walking down the corridor he's in. _Bad choice, kids._

"I swear! I heard it! It was saying my name!" The girl affirms, holding the boy's arm for dear life.

"Don't be ridiculous, it can't know your name." The guy tries to reassure her, wanting to look more confident than he really is. And yeah, he has a point, they don't know the visitors' names, they don't care, and they won't talk to them, ever. They never even talked for Romelle. They can't, it's just impossible. Or maybe they haven't found how to yet. Same difference, the girl is wrong. But that doesn't change the fact that the dude called them 'it', and Keith choses to take offense to that.

He kneels, and as they arrive right in front of him, he catches the guy's ankle, making him fall, dragging the girl down with him as they both yell like their lives were about to end.

"It caught me! A-a hand! I felt it!" The boy screams, the girl yells even more, gets up, and runs away, the guy running after her, trying to catch up. Keith huffs, it's just so easy with kids who wants to believe the manor is really haunted. If only they knew.

After that, Keith decides to go look after Pidge. The outside's a great playground, and there's always enough for two of them. He spots her quickly enough, flying around a tree to grab apples that she throws on their guests. Simple, but effective. Of course, she's not aiming at them, they don't want to kill them, but it's still fun.

Keith joins the party by grabbing apples on the ground to throw them at the visitors' legs. There's half a dozen of them, but their yelling are so loud Keith's actually impressed. It's over after a few seconds as they're not completely stupid and run away, but Keith had fun, and according to Pidge's grin, her too.

She flies down to Keith, resting her elbow on his shoulder. "It's so good to be taller than you, now." She teases, and Keith rolls his eyes.

"Your feet aren't touching the ground, that's cheating." He argues, not even looking down to check. It's just obvious.

"No rule says they have to, though." She retorts playfully.

"Wow, saying that must have hurt the genie in you." Keith says, but he's still not moving, just content to take a moment to chill with his friend. They're not in a rush, they have all night, and don't want to do too much right away. They want the guests to feel safe again to strike when they're not expecting it anymore.

"I know you think you're winning by saying that but, really, you're just flattering me." Is Pidge's answer as she tousles his hair. At that, he takes offense and catches her hand to stop her.

"You're going to wish you hadn't done that." He announces, pushing her away.

She's not impressed, though. "Yeah? And what are you going to do?"

Keith smirks, lets go of her, and grabs her hairband, making her hair falls on her face. She swears loudly, trying to catch it, but she's too late. No one is faster than Keith.

He puts the hairband safely around his wrist and takes off, flying faster than he could ever run. The time she takes to realize what is happening and to take her hair away from her face is enough for him to disappear from her view.

"I swear I'm gonna—"

"Are you talking to yourself? Is that a thing now? Are you finally losing your mind?" Hunk asks, joining Pidge quickly as the wind is strong enough to carry them faster than usual.

Keith stays hidden not far away between the trees, knowing better than to say anything or make a move that could be noisy and risk his cover.

"Very funny. No, I'm talking to Keith, he stole my hairband." Pidge explains, annoyance clearly visible in her voice. She knows Keith is still close, listening to them. She knows all she has to do for him to come back and return the hairband is to say she regrets what she did. And he knows she'd rather die if she wasn't already dead than to do that.

"Oh, okay. Anyway, Lance wants you to help him do the 'ghost-passing-quickly-in-the-corridor-thingy' with him. So like, can you.. Go?" Hunk asks, and Keith almost laughs. Why don't they have a single word to reference to that trick already?

"Why don't _you_ do it with him?" Pidge demands with reason. Keith understands, he wouldn't want to go either. An apparition to mortal eyes is the most tiring thing they manage to do, and after, they felt like they're about to pass out, if they don't just fade completely.

"Because I already did it with Shiro earlier." Hunk argues and Pidge groans loudly, knowing she lost. None of them would ask another one to do something that tiring twice in the same night. They care about the others too much for that.

"Ugh, fine." She finally accepts, and they both go back to the manor.

Keith is about to do the same, not seeing the point in staying here if he's alone when he hears footsteps on the dead leafs on the ground of the tiny forest around the manor. He frowns. They're coming from the outside of the property, but maybe they're just visitors who tried to explore and got lost. Or maybe they're trying to experience the haunted manor without paying for it. Whatever it is, they deserve to be scared.

He flies next to them, deciding for an easy strategy. He'd just crush the dead leafs around them, making it sound as if they were followed.

Once he's closer, he sees it's another couple, though way older than the previous one inside the manor. They're around their thirty, maybe a bit younger. They both have really long white hair and dark skin, though the woman's skin is darker. They're tied to each other by their arms, whispering to each other. It's what get Keith's attention. Visitors are never whispering. Even back in the days when they were unauthorized, they're always nosy, yelling.

It's what make Keith decides against his initial plan, wanting to know what they're saying. He comes closer, almost touching them. He's careful not too, because even if the touch would only feel like cold wind for them, he feels that he shouldn't risk his presence to be known.

"… just listen, this is…"

"… need to! … crazy…"

"… later… first we should…"

"… maybe… he said…"

"… trust him, but…"

"Keith!"

The scream, way louder than the couple's whispers makes Keith jumps, only his reflexes preventing him from bumping into them. He looks around until he sees Shiro, waving with his arm to get Keith's attention. He looks back at the couple, wanting to try and understand what the hell they're talking about, but he can't just ignore Shiro.

So he flies to him. "Is Pidge sending you for the hairband? Because she—"

"No, it's not that. Just.. Come with me." Shiro only says, turning around to go back to the manor.

"Wow, you can't just say that and walk away! Is everyone okay?" Keith asks, suddenly worried.

"Yeah, show's over, Romelle's sending them home." Shiro explains, which only confuses Keith more because normally, Romelle only sends away the last visitors after one more hour.

But he lives his whole life and death with Shiro, and he knows when it's useless to push. Right now, it is. Whatever this is about, he'll only know when they're with the others, and even if Shiro said they're okay, Keith can't wait to see that for himself. It's not like there's a lot of things that can hurt a ghost, but you never know what can happen anyway.

He follows Shiro in the main living room, where Romelle's sitting at the table, her computer in front of Pidge next to her. Keith notices a paper in her hand.

Hunk and Lance are on one of the couches, Lance's head resting on Hunk's shoulder, and Keith decides he's in good enough hands for him not to worry about his translucent state. It's not their first ride, he knows he'll be fine.

Keith makes a beeline to Romelle and Pidge, following Shiro. "This just arrived in the mailbox," Shiro starts to explain, pointing at the letter in Romelle's hand. Next to her, Pidge writes something, and Romelle puts the letter on the table, easier for the brothers to read. "It's from Romelle's older cousin, apparently, but she didn't know she had living family members left. And that woman clames the manor is as much hers as its Romelle's and she wants to visit and 'talk'."

Keith nods, trying to think of everything this news could change. He wants to believe they could make a new friend along the way, but everything in that letter screams trouble.

"We need to check if what she's saying is true, of course. She pretends she has proof she only wants to show Romelle in person, which could be a trap, a pretext to come and do whatever evil plan she has." Pidge adds, frowning. She looks exhausted, and looking at the computer's screen, Keith understands. She taped a lot to try and reassure Romelle and it's tiring, even for her.

"Ooor, she could be friendly?" Hunk offers, but even him doesn't look convinced.

"If that was the case, she'd want to know Romelle, as she's family and everything. But she only cares about money. Or evil thingy like Pidge said." Lance interferes, raising his head from Hunk's shoulder just long enough to talk.

"But let's not panic yet, maybe we can scare her and make her go away or something, we'll see. Any question?" Shiro asks, turning to Keith.

"Yeah. Why was Romelle checking the mail at 2am?" Keith asks, perplexed.

Hunk and Lance chuckle from the couch, Pidge snorts loudly, and Shiro hits his head with his hand. Keith tilts his head, not understanding their reactions. His question's perfectly logical, who the hell does that.

"Anyway, We think Romelle should just ignore her, as there's no proof it's the truth, and we'd make researches on her. Except Shiro, who thinks she should meet her and be done with it. Of course, it'll be Romelle's decision, but for know, she really doesn't want to meet that woman, except she's scared she'll have problems if she says the truth. What do _you_ think?" Pidge asks him, totally ignoring his own question. And one: _rude_, and two: how is he supposed to know _that_?

"Ugh." He just answers as everyone turn to him, waiting for his opinion. But when Shiro looks disappointed, he forces himself to find other words. Or real words in general. "I think we shouldn't ignore it, she looks determined so she won't leave it alone. Probably. Maybe Romelle could make an appointment but like, not before a few days so we have time to make researches?" He offers, unsure, but relax when Shiro smiles at him.

Pidge immediately starts typing to let Romelle know. Keith waits, feeling uneasy as none of his friends comment what he offered. He looks back at Hunk and Lance, but they're not looking in his direction, talking to each other, their voices so low Keith can't hear anything. He looks away.

Romelle nods after reading Pidge's new message, thinking. "I.. I guess I can't just ignore it. Maybe I can ask Luka to be there? No offense guys, but I'd be more at ease with another living person here."

"Of course, whatever makes her feel better." Shiro answers immediately, and Pidge nods, typing that.

"Good. We'll answer tomorrow morning. I think we should all get a good night sleeping. Resting. Whatever it is that you're doing to recharge." Romelle says, her tone fond.

Pidge types a quick good night message from all of them before exiting the room by the floor. She likes the room in the basement, for some reason. Romelle stands up, leaving too to her own room.

Keith starts to do the same, but he almost right away hears Shiro saying good night to the others, following him. "Hey, Keith?" He calls him when they're alone in the corridor. Keith stops, turning around to look at Shiro without a word. "I'm proud of you." He tells him with a smile, and Keith automatically smiles back.

Shiro tousles Keith's hair, and Keith groans, escaping though the wall, only hearing Shiro's laugh before it's muffled by the wall.

He travels across the rooms, floors and walls until he's in his own bedroom. It's cosy, with a huge window overlooking the lake behind the manor. He opens the window and looks at the view a few minutes, closing his eyes. He's happy he can still feel the wind, even if he can't get cold anymore. He doesn't even remember how it felt, just that it was annoying anyway.

Keith jumps when arms wrap around his middle, but relax when he realizes it's Lance. He can't prevent a smile to for on his lips, not that he'd want to.

As he's not reacting, Lance rests his head on Keith's shoulder. "Don't jump, I love you." He whispers in Keith's ear, making his whole body shiver. Even in death, Lance always has the power to drive every fiber of Keith's body crazy.

Keith chuckles, looking down. He didn't even realize how close he is until Lance pointed it out. Not that it matters anyway, he wouldn't fall unless he wants to, and it wouldn't harm him. "I love you too." He simply answers, perfectly content. Until Lance talks again.

"Sooo.." Keith stiffens, knowing by Lance's tone that his boyfriend is about to say something that'll annoy him. Or something Lance thinks will make his angry. Great. "You really _always_ have to agree with Shiro, huh?"

Keith groans, definitely annoyed. It's one of the rare reasons they still argue sometimes, because it's one of the rare cases where none of them wants to make compromises. Keith can't, of course. He's not going to apologize for having the same point of view than his brother. But Lance often thinks that Keith will always chose Shiro's side because he's afraid of disappointing him. Which he is, but still, he can have his own opinion, thank you very much.

"It's not my fault he was the only one to think with his brain instead of being a coward." Keith snaps, a part of him immediately regretting it, scared Lance would unwrap his arms from around his tummy, but another part still mad at Lance, wrongly not sorry at all.

He feels Lance's arms stiffen, though still in place, so he puts his hand on Lance's, silently asking him to stay. As if Lance would ever leave. "I—"

"It's okay," Lance cuts him. "But if Pidge didn't say what each of us thought, I'm not sure you'd have said the same thing, that's all." He holds Keith a little closer to show he really doesn't want to argue either, but Keith can't pretend Lance's right just to avoid that.

"Except I would have. Actually I would have said 'let's meet her right now to see what the hell she wants', so it's y'all different point of view that influenced me." Keith says, because he always was the impulsive one in their group.

Lance chuckles. "But you knew it's not what Shiro wanted, so you _didn't_ say what you _really_ thought, you said what he wanted to hear." Lance retorts smartly, and Keith mentally slaps himself. Did he accidentally prove Lance's point by wanting to argue?

To win some time to think, Keith groans. Sometimes, he misses the time when he could sigh. "It's not like that.. I just knew it was useless to say that so I said the second best one." He explains.

Lance moves one of his hands to put it above Keith's hand, trapping it between his two hands. "Hey, what you think is never useless, though, you know that, right?"

Keith can't help but smile. How did he get so lucky to have such an amazing boyfriend? Okay, maybe dying at 19 wasn't lucky, but at least they were together still. And forever. Maybe one day they'll move on, they have a few hypothesis about why they're all trapped here, he just hopes that if it happens, they'll do it together.

"Hey, Lance?" He says, his voice barely more than a whisper. Lance hums, waiting. "I love you so much."

Lance chuckles softly. "Me too. You can't even imagine how much. But that doesn't change what I think of all of this. Never think you need to change who you are for anyone." Lance doesn't let go, because that's who he is. His stubborn, gorgeous boyfriend.

"I know, I just didn't want to lose time when I knew the right solution. And Shiro knows it too, so it's fine." Keith affirms. He never got the tension between Lance and Shiro. Sure, they were friends, close friends, even, but sometimes, he could just tell something was wrong between them. Lance once confessed a fight they had before the accident, but it was so long ago..

"Sigh, if you say so." Lance says, making Keith laughs. Unable to sigh anymore, the dramatic part of Lance decided to just say the word out loud, and it's just one of the hundreds of reasons Keith is madly in love with him. "Wanna go to bed? I'm so tired. I had to make two apparitions because these dumbasses were so busy running around screaming they didn't notice me the first time."

At that, Keith definitely burst into laughter.


	2. Chapter 2

"No." Pidge says firmly, arms crossed.

"Yes." Shiro argues, frowning, almost cold.

"No way." Lance agrees with Pidge, glaring at Shiro.

"It's not what we agreed on." Hunk adds, uneasily, toying with his fingers.

"We don't have much choice." Shiro doesn't let go, talking louder as if the others couldn't hear him.

"_Keith_." Pidge prompts him to intervene, looking at him with annoyance and to his defense, he's not avoiding confrontation, he's only typing as fast as possible for Romelle to follow their argument.

They've been at it all morning. They sent an email to the address the woman let, offering to meet up next week, early afternoon. She immediately answered she only could tonight, which is a big no for them, except they don't really have a choice here as the woman talked about her lawyer and Romelle is freaking out. They all are, and the only way they found to handle the situation is yelling at each other.

"I already said I was against this like.. Forty times, what do you want me to do?" He asks, passive-agressive, typing to avoid having to look at his friends.

"I don't know, maybe—" Pidge starts, but Lance interrupts her.

"Leave him alone, he's not responsible." He says, annoyed, and Keith sends him a thankful smile.

"What is worst? Letting that woman see the show and talk with Romelle while there's people around, or saying no and risk for Romelle to lose the manor?" Shiro demands, trying hard to stay calm.

"She can't just take the manor from Romelle!" Lance says, outraged, but at their surprise, it's Pidge who contradicts him.

"Actually, I did a few researches quickly on her, she's engaged with a really rich dude who's dad is one of the best lawyer. He's probably the one she's talking about."

"Then why does she want the manor?" Hunk asks, and Keith nods, agreeing with the fact that nothing in this situation is making any sense.

"Rich people always want more." Pidge says.

"That's it, I'm sending the email." Romelle announces, taking the computer from Keith, and they all jump, turning to her.

"What email?" Pidge asks, but as Romelle took the computer back, Keith can't ask, so he just shrugs. He tries to grab to computer, but Romelle's grip is stronger than his as she doesn't have to concentrate on staying solid, so he gives up.

They all look at the screen, where Romelle is writing that she agrees with the meeting, but that she can't close her business for the night so the woman will have to deal with the screaming and the dark. Then, she takes her phone to call someone and leaves the room.

Shiro walks after her, and Pidge follows to try and get some informations about the phone call. She's probably just calling Luka, but they also want to make sure she's okay.

Keith brings the computer back in front of him, resting his head on his arm as he looks at his playlist. He should practice a new music, he's already getting bored of the previous one. He starts playing one, closing his eyes to concentrate.

"Hey, grumpy." A voice interrupts his listening, and Keith automatically smiles, opening his eyes, but not moving his head from his arms.

"'Am not grumpy." He says, noticing Hunk left too at some point.

"You're listening a sad music while moping." Lance teases him, looking at the computer's screen.

"I'm haunting a manor, I'm not going to play a happy song. And I'm not moping." He retorts, even if he knows Lance isn't serious.

"Really? Prove it." Lance dares him, and Keith frowns, not getting where Lance is going with that. But thankfully, Lance understands his boyfriend doesn't know what the heck he's expecting of him, so he adds: "Danse with me?"

At that, Keith chuckles. "I thought you were complaining about the sad song." He pretends to resist, already knowing he'll give in eventually, because he has no reason not to want to give Lance what he wants.

"I would never. I like the sad song." Lance says softly, holding a hand out for Keith to take, and he's happy to comply.

It's not that Keith can still really be surprised by Lance, they knew each other for so long that he doubts he can still discover new faces of his personality. But he's always amazed by him anyway. How he just turns a moment like that into a happy memory, slow dancing with Keith as if they were in an appropriate place and an appropriate moment to do so. But they don't care. They stopped caring about that sort of thing long ago.

They stay silent at first, only holding each other close, slowly moving, just enjoying the other one's presence. Lance kisses Keith's neck, and Keith giggles because it tickles. He rubs his nose against Lance's neck, happy he can still smell his perfume. They continue like that, touching each other, exchanging looks, having a whole conversation with their bodies instead of words.

"Let me correct what I said before: I _love_ the sad song." Lance whispers, holding Keith a little bit tightly, but no matter how close they were, it'll never be enough for them, they'd never have enough of the other.

"Want me to teach it to you?" Keith offers, and Lance immediately nods with excitement like a child would. Keith chuckles, because it's adorable, and as one, they let go of their fake gravity to fly up to the attic.

Years ago, Keith started teaching Lance to play the piano, but if he really wanted to learn, he sometimes was a bit too overexcited and had troubles paying attention and really listen to Keith's advices. It was cute and tiring, but now, Lance has a pretty decent level and can follow Keith in a duet, which Keith adores.

They sit on the piano's stool, not big enough for the both of them, but they manage, only on it for the position in front of the piano as they won't fall on the ground anyway.

Keith shows him the notes and Lance repeats them until he starts to memorize them too. Then, Keith stands up and takes the violin he let there last night, starting to play with Lance, who almost immediately messes up as he often does when Keith first plays something with him. It's okay, though, it's only practice. Lance starts again, Keith joins, and it's already better. Maybe they could play it tonight..

But no, they can't, because they'll need to busy the guests _and_ make sure Romelle's fine. They can't allow themselves to be two where one is enough.

Soon enough, that reality catches them as the others call them back down in the living room. Romelle looks better, though stressed, and Pidge is back on the computer, probably doing researches or talking to Romelle for them.

"Luka is on her way. Pidge tried to learn more about our special guest but there's almost nothing about her on the internet." Shiro says as they enter the room.

"Which is very weird for someone that rich. I can't even found what she does in her life except being engaged to a lawyer's son. I can't find anything about him either, by the way." Pidge adds, frowning at the computer.

"Maybe there's just nothing to find and we're worrying for nothing? We'll see how it goes tonight and.. Improvise?" Keith offers, not seeing anything else to do and tired of this situation. Truth be told, he's not unhappy they had to rush the meeting, waiting like that for a week would have been hell.

"I hate it but it seems like we don't have another choice anyway. So what's the plan?" Pidge asks, typing at the same time for Romelle to follow the conversation.

"We need Keith to play, it's a classic of the house, we can't not have that. Pidge, you're the best in the garden, so you should stay there too. That leaves Hunk, Lance and me in the house. We can take turns to look after Romelle." Shiro announces, and Keith immediately rolls his eyes because there's no way he's staying all night away from the action. He can't handle not knowing.

"But Lance can play the piano too, now. I wanna stay with Romelle." Keith argues, knowing he sounds childish, but unable to stop himself.

"_Keith_, you're the only one who can play the violin and—"

"It's only a few minutes at the beginning of the night, then I can—"

"It's _not_ the plan." Shiro cuts him, and Keith groans.

"There's no plan yet! It's just you throwing orders around!" Keith yells, unable to stop himself, and immediately regretting it as he crosses Shiro's look. His _sad_ look. "I'm sorry." He mumbles, looking down.

"No, you're right, I can't decide for everyone else, I'm just trying to protect you, I'm sorry. Everyone should say what they want to do and we'll go from there." Shiro says, finding a calm only a natural leader like him can find after Keith's intervention.

Lance, Hunk and Pidge exchange looks Keith doesn't want to know the meaning of, then Lance clears his throat. "Huh, I do can play the piano part after Keith is done with the violin, I don't mind. Then I can come and check on Romelle and if everything's good I'll go back to the visitors and I'll check back from time to time. If that's okay with everyone."

Shiro smiles at Lance. "Yeah, that'd be great."

"I'd like to be around Romelle, if possible." Pidge says, her tone clearly letting them know that it's not really a negotiation.

"Yeah, you'll be more useful than I would. I can take the garden." Hunk offers, and Keith smiles, amused. They all know Hunk isn't the bravest of them, and he'd probably rather be anywhere than near the creepy woman coming for Romelle.

"Great, then it's settled." Shiro says, waiting for Pidge to inform Romelle, who then leaves the room because Luka arrived.

Then, Shiro asks Keith to come with him in the corridor, and as soon as the others can't hear then, he whispers to Keith: "They're all stressed. You know what they need?" Keith shakes him head, and when he sees Shiro's smirk, he knows he'll like what he's about to hear. "To be so scared they'll forget to be stressed."

Keith chuckles. "And how are you planning to do that? They know all our tricks." He likes that Shiro, the playful Shiro, the big brother Shiro, not the dad Shiro. He thinks he always needs to take care of them, to take the decisions for them, but really, Keith just misses him acting like that, like them.

"Maybe we just need to be smarter than them?" Shiro offers, not losing his smile.

At that, Keith laughs. "_Please_, Pidge is the smartest person I know and Hunk and Lance are close seconds, no offense. No, we need something so dumb they won't see it coming."

And dumb, they can be. They spot Hunk and Lance in the garden, putting the dead leaves into piles, probably for tonight, but Keith doesn't even have to talk to Shiro to know they're thinking the same thing: with one look at the other, they know they have the same plan for the leaves.

Shiro points a big pile with his finger, and Keith nods, a smirk on his face. He crouches, hiding in the leaves, which is a very weird sensation, tickling him a bit as he can feel them but not really. It's not confortable, but it's okay, he won't have to stay there very long.

"Hey, guys, why are you doing this?" Keith hears Shiro ask, sounding genuinely perplexed, which Keith can understand, the garden being a mess is part of the haunted manor aesthetic.

"Oh, hi, Shiro, I thought you were with Keith." Lance answers. "And we want to throw them at the guests when they arrive tonight so we figured it'd be easier like that."

Shiro must nod, because he takes a few seconds to answer. "I see, good idea. Want some help? Keith rejected me because he wanted to practice the violin." Shiro pretends, probably to convince them that Keith is definitely not around.

"Oh, maybe I should go with him, if I have to do the piano part tonight.." Lance says, and Keith has to fight hard not to giggle. This is so not going to work.

"No!" Shiro almost yells, and at that, Keith has to fight harder not to laugh. "I.. Ugh, he told me he wants to be alone." Shiro improvises, but it's so clear he's panicking and trying to look natural that the others can't not get it too.

"So you were with him and he told you 'go away I want to practice the violin alone without anyone around'?" Lance asks, making fun of him.

"Not in these words exactly." Shiro says.

"In what words then?"

"Does it matter?"

"Not really, but you're hiding something and I want to know what so I'm just gonna-aaaah!"

Lance yells as Keith just throws all the leaves in the direction of their voices, joined by Hunk. Even Shiro looks startled, which is a double win.

"Keith, gods, why would you do that?!" Lance asks, trying to look mad, but the fond look he's sending Keith's way tells the truth.

"You were planning on throwing them away anyway." Keith says, standing up to join his friends.

"You guys are mean. _Oh_, we should scare Pidge." Hunk offers, excitement readable in his eyes.

"_No one_ is scaring Pidge."

They all jump as Pidge joins them, a proud smile on her lips. Hunk pouts, and Lance puts his arm around his shoulders to confort him. "It's okay, big guy, she's right on that one."

"Yep, I'm always right. By the way, why are you guys tiring yourselves when we'll need all the energy we can have tonight?" She wonders, looking at all of them, one after the other.

"I'm pretty sure it's Keith's fault." Lance announces, winking at Keith who doesn't know if he wants to punch him or kiss him. Probably both.

"Actually it's Shiro's." Keith contradicts him.

"It doesn't matter who's fault it is, Pidge is right, everyone should get some rest." Shiro says, and Keith rolls his eyes. Easy to say when it's your fault.

It turns out that waiting calmly is way worst that waiting while doing dumb things. And for Keith, who simply hates waiting, it's like torture. He tried to train Lance a bit at the piano, but he couldn't concentrate, so they stopped. Now, they were just all gathered in the living room, waiting for that woman to come along with their guests, and the tension is killing Keith.

"Ok but like, if she's rude, can I punch her?" Luka asks, looking way more confident than Romelle on that.

"No, she could press charges against you." Romelle refuses, nervously playing with her hair.

"Can I?" Keith adds, but Shiro just shakes his head.

"It's time." Romelle announces, knowing they're all in the room without needing any sort of confirmation from them. She stands, and Luka follows her to the door. Hunk flies to the garden, and Keith begrudgingly follows Lance to the attic.

He takes the violin as Lance sits in front of the piano, and as soon as he starts playing, he's mad at himself because this is so bad. His hands are tensed, and so is the music, missing its usual beauty. He can see Lance frown from the corner of his eyes, but refuses to look at him. The guests arrive, right on time, and he stops playing. Just then, Lance starts. And it's not so bad, really not, especially after how badly Keith just played.

Keith decides to scare their guests by passing through them, not wanting to tire himself with an apparition, even just his hand. The result is almost the same, as they all start to panic because it's not just them, and if everyone can feel something, then it's not in their head.

Keith doesn't wait for Lance to stop playing to disappear through the floor. He goes back to the living room as fast as he can, and panics when he can't find them. He looks around, passing rapidly across the room, bumping into a visitor or two, but not caring because he needs to find Romelle and Luka.

He finds Shiro first, and almost throws himself at him.

"Shiro! Where are they?" He asks, almost yelling.

"They're in the tiny living room upstairs, Allura wanted a calm place to discuss, which doesn't make any sense as she wanted to come when the guests are here but.. What can I say? She came with her fiancé, Lotor. They're cold, haughty, and Luka looks about ready to kick them out. I was actually looking for you, I need to be sure of something, follow me." Shiro explains, and Keith frowns, not liking where this is going.

And when he arrives in the tiny living room, he immediately understands what Shiro meant. He recognizes them right away, the couple from yesterday in the garden, the weird one Keith had a bad feeling on.

"That's what I thought. Do you know anything?" Shiro asks him.

"Not much, just that they were in the garden yesterday, and they looked like they were coming from the outside, which is weird because it's not at all the way from the mailbox so it's not like they were leaving from there. I couldn't hear what they were saying but they were talking about a man. Maybe his father or something?" Keith tries hard to remember, but there's not a lot to work on to begin with.

He looks at them, and understands Luka's urge to punch them. They look like royalty, like they already stole Romelle's house from her, adding the manor to an infinite list of their properties.

"Maybe.. I don't like that. I'll check around the house if I can see anyone else acting weird. Come and get me if something happens, okay? Pidge needs to stay with Romelle all night." Shiro orders before leaving, but Keith wasn't planning on arguing anyway. Protecting Romelle is more important than his need to know what is happening, and Romelle needs someone who has all the informations with her.

Keith turns his attention back on the meeting, glad to see Pidge perched on the couch next to Romelle.

"So as you can see, my late father was the true heir of the house. Of course I understand your attachment to it, and I'm willing to share with you." The woman, _Allura_, is saying, a tone of papers in front of her.

Keith sends a questioning look in Pidge directement, and feels his stomach knot as she looks worried.

"It all looks real. Apparently, Romelle's grand father disinherited her father so he had no right on the manor, but Allura's father, his brother, died before their father. But Allura's mother was only pregnant of her, so her father never recognized her, and her mother never told his family he had a daughter. Allura didn't know before a few weeks ago, when her mother died, letting her a letter explaining everything." Pidge explains, her eyes running fast on the papers in front of her, trying to find a proof that it's a lie.

"What do you mean, share?" Romelle asks, her voice shaking. Keith hates that.

"I know you're doing a business in this house, and I'm fascinated by ghosts stories. I want in! I want to know the tricks and everything! Because real ghosts don't exist, right?" Allura says, faking her excitement to try and trap Romelle.

Keith wants to show her how unreal they are, scare her until she runs away, screaming for her life, but he knows it wouldn't help Romelle.

"Of course they don't." Luka answers as Romelle is unable to, too scared to find her words.

"I can buy your part of the manor, and then we're done with that. The house's value is—"

"Oh no, no no no. I don't think you understood me there. I don't have a part of the manor, I have all of it. And I'm not interested in selling it. These are my therms: or you let me in, or I'll force you out. I'm trying to be nice." Allura says coldly, like a spoiled rotten child who's being refused something for the first time.

"I.." Romelle starts, but can't find in herself to say more.

"It's okay, you can think about it. I want to experience the show anyway, take a full look on the whole thing. You see, I'm impressed that you don't need to manually start and end the tricks. I can't wait to know everything about them!" Allura stands up, back at looking excited, but it's still fake, Keith knows it. And he can't let her go around the manor, risking that she sees something Romelle can't explain.

But he also can't leave Romelle and Luka. They need help to take an impossible decision, to find a way to make this work. But Allura and Lotor are already leaving the room, and he really can't let them unsupervised.

"Go, I'll talk to them." Pidge tells him, and Keith hates that, but he doesn't have a choice.

He rapidly flies to the couple, but they're not talking, which annoys Keith. They could at least give informations about their masterplan as no one is around to listen, but no. Rude. He follows them down a corridor, waiting for something, anything, to happen, but nothing.

Until he feels someone coming behind him. And then, Lance is by his side. "Hey, are you bored of scaring people? Are you just following them like a creep? Is that your thing, now?" His boyfriend teases him, but Keith doesn't even look at him. He doesn't want to risk taking his eyes off of them even for one second. "I'm gonna do an apparition." Lance announces, moving past Keith.

"Lance, no!" He yells, catching him just before he's out of reach.

Lance groans. "But why?" He whines, pouting.

"It's Allura and Lotor, dummy, she apparently likes ghosts stuff and wants to see 'the tricks' so please don't do anything Romelle can't explain. Or anything that will make them want to stay longer. Or—"

"Or anything at all."

"Yeah, that."

Lance groans again, louder this time. "Ugh, okay, but I'm not having fun."

"Me neither." Keith retorts, and smiles when Lance chuckles.

"So, what did they tell Romelle?" Lance asks, and Keith remembers Lance doesn't know anything yet as he probably didn't bump into Shiro before him.

"Basically that woman owns the house. Completely. But she agrees to share if she can get into the business, which means knowing the 'tricks'. Except it was weird because she asked if ghosts existed, but as if she knew something. But maybe I'm seeing too much into this. I don't know." Keith tries to explain, not wanting for Lance to stay in the dark, but struggling as he doesn't know how to explain something he barely understands himself.

"Conclusion: we're in deep shit." Lance summarizes, and Keith nods. Yeah, that sounds about right.

Allura nods, looking their way, then whispers something to Lotor that they can't hear because it's so low and they're too far away. Keith's stomach knot, and he unconsciously puts himself between them and Lance, not liking that at all.

"They stopped talking," she announces to Lotor. "Which means they know I know."

Then, before any of them has the time to do anything, she opens her bag and takes a weird device out which looks like the gun of a crazy scientist. And she aims it at then, firing without a warning.


	3. Chapter 3

Keith is pulled forward, unable to resist, uncontrollably attracted by Allura's gun, until he feels arms wrapping around his stomach, forcing him out of the gun's attraction. He's moved across the wall, and the attraction stops completely. The arms let go of him, but he feels so drained he can't stand straight.

"What the hell was that?!" Lance yells next to him. "Shit, are you okay?!" He adds, kneeling next to Keith, holding him close to share his energy, and Keith already feels a bit better. Or maybe it's just because Lance is holding him in general.

He nods, an uneasy feeling in his body, as if he's squished from the inside. He's not sure he should tell that to Lance, though, as he already looks worried. "I'm good, it was just.. Weird. I don't know how that worked or how she could hear us or.. Whatever she did, but we need to warn the others before she finds them."

Keith has no idea what would have happened to him if Lance hadn't been there, but he's not interested in finding out with it happening to one of his friends.

"Yeah, okay, ugh, Hunk's still in the garden, but I have no idea where Shiro is." Lance admits.

"Go find Hunk, then you go to Pidge, Romelle and Luka in the tiny living room. I'll get Shiro and we'll meet you there." Keith offers, and he feels Lance holding him a bit closer at the thought of going different ways.

"Maybe we should stay together, if I hadn't been there you—"

"I didn't know, now I'll be more careful. We can't risk for Allura and Lotor to find them before us." Keith cuts him, standing up, forcing Lance to let go of him. Lance pouts, but nods.

"Okay, you're right, but be extra careful, _please_." Lance demands, and Keith nods, cupping his cheek with his hand before kissing him gently.

"See you soon." He says, then disappear through the wall to look for Shiro, hoping the couple won't go outside so Lance and Hunk will be safe, but also that they won't find the others.

He hears people screaming, and he rushes in that direction, but when people go past him, Shiro isn't there. Maybe they scared themselves without their help, or maybe Shiro already moved to somewhere else. Keith is tempted to call Shiro's name, but knowing that Allura could hear prevents him to do that.

He wants to stop and think about everything that just happened, but it's like he's under water, unable to make his stupid brain work as long as he hasn't found Shiro. Shiro will know, Shiro will find a solution, he'll guide him. Yeah, in that moment, Keith desperately needs his big brother.

He realizes he's shaking, but he can't stop until he finds Shiro. He's forced to slow down, as he's so tired, but he's ready to give his last strength in his research. He goes all the way down to the basement, which is empty, then the library, the kitchen, but nothing.

He's about to go back to the tiny living room in case Shiro went back there to meet the others when he sees them. Allura and Lotor. They're in another corridor now, and Keith is tempted to run away from them, but he needs to know if they did anything to Shiro.

".. This way.. Wait." Allura says, turning around in Keith's direction, and Keith completely stops moving. He doesn't know if he should try to leave if he still can, or if should wait and see what will happen. "I know you're there." She adds, and Keith rolls his eyes. He's not that dumb, he figured that much. "I don't know how much Romelle knows, but I can understand you better than she ever will. You see, I have a gift, I can help you, but I need your help to convince Romelle."

Keith can't help but snort. She really think he already forgot what she tried to do to him just a few minutes before? But maybe two can play this game. Maybe he can manipulate her to get information.

"What help could you offer us?" He asks before he can really think about it, but Allura just makes a face.

"I can't understand what you're saying, it's like ultrasound, but maybe you can write for me, please?" She answers, and her kind voice almost convince Keith that she actually means it. She takes a notebook and a pen from her bag, and puts them on the ground, the notebook opened.

Keith knows it's a trap. He knows she's probably trying to distract him to get him with her weird gun. But he's curious. Everything about her is a mystery, and after years of routine, he's excited about something finally happening.

He kneels carefully, eyes never leaving the couple. He grabs the pen, and quickly write what he said, still not leaving them out of his gaze. When he's done, he moves away, closer to the wall in case he needs to escape.

Allura looks at the paper and smile. "You see, my gift has a purpose, responsibility. Or, at least, I like to see it that way. My mother never did anything of it, she had it too, you know, but she was scared of it. I'm not. I want to use it to make the world a better place. I guess you already know that, but if you're still there, it's because you're trapped. I can free you, I can help you move on to the next step. I'm sure you have family or friends you'd like to see again. It's what my device does, and I'm so sorry it scared you! I shouldn't have tried to force you, but I'm under the impression that Romelle is manipulating you to stay so she can win money thanks to you."

Keith wants to believe it's all bullshit. He _knows_ it is. But she sounds so genuine he finds himself thinking about it, just for a moment. He thinks about his family, but also his friends's families. How happy they would all be if they could see them again. They're not really missing them, time is weird when you're a ghost, and their memories seem so far away that it doesn't hurt anymore. They know they'll see them again one day and it'll be awesome, but for now, they're happy as they are. But what if they could all go there together? It's not a decision Keith can take alone.

And she's probably lying. Trying to manipulate him. But there's still the tiny possibility that she's not. He can't just throw away that chance just because he doesn't like strangers and is unable to trust anyone he didn't know for at least a year.

"You don't have to take your decision right now, I know it's a lot. There's others, right? Maybe talk to them? I'll let you and Romelle until tomorrow to decide. I'll come in the late afternoon. Make the right choice." Allura says, kneeling to grab the notebook and the pen.

Then, she turns around, followed by Lotor, leaving Keith alone with his thoughts. And there's so many of them that he can't even think at all anymore. He lets himself fall on the ground in a sitting position, his back against the wall. What is he supposed to do, now? He knows he should go find the others, but if he does that, everyone will start talking, then yelling, Romelle will probably cry, and Luka will get mad.

He doesn't even know what he'd tell them. What if they say it's lies? What if they trust Allura? They didn't hear her. How genuine she sound and looked. They already hate her. Probably with reason. But what if all of this was a misunderstanding?

Keith rests his head on his arms, closing his eyes in the hope it'd help. It doesn't. He has no idea of how long he stays like that, just trying to stop thinking, but suddenly, he hears a voice. Pidge's voice. Then another, Shiro's, and it's that one that makes him react because with everything, he completely forgot he was looking for him.

"I'm here!" He says loudly, starting to stand up, and his friends are there before he's totally up.

Before he has the chance to say or do anything, he's crushed into a bones crushing hug by Lance. "_Never _disappear like that again." He whispers in Keith's ear, holding him a bit tighter before letting go, but not entirely as he stays close, his arm around Keith's back.

"What the fuck, Keith?" Pidge yells at him, punching his arm, which doesn't hurt at all.

"I.. I was looking for Shiro," Keith starts mumbling, still in shock.

"Yeah, they told me. I went back to the meeting room and Pidge was explaining what I missed when Lance and Hunk arrived. They were surprised you weren't there too and explained what happened with Lotor and Allura. We were about to go looking for you when Allura announced to Romelle she was giving her a delay until tomorrow, then they just left." Shiro explains.

"Did Romelle make her decision?" Keith asks, not meeting anyone's eyes.

"No, it's an impossible decision." Pidge says, looking mad. "She wants everyone's point of view first."

Great, another long meeting where everyone would disagree, Keith can't wait.

"We should get it over with now." Shiro decides.

"Actually I'm going to rest, now. Lance explained to you what happened so.. Yeah, I can't do that right now." Keith contradicts him, flying away to his room without waiting for their response. It's not a negotiation anyway. He's done for now. He can't give Romelle his point of view with a storm in his head.

He lays down on the bed, turned toward the window where he can see the stars. It normally always calm him, but today, it's not that effective. He only has to wait a few minutes before he can hear someone joining him. He fears for a few moments it's Shiro, but relax when Lance lays down behind him, wrapping his arm around Keith's stomach.

"Hey." Lance simply says, and it's the fact that he's not pressing Keith to talk that makes him tell him everything Allura told him. And Lance just listen, not interrupting him once, waiting for Keith to be done to say something.

Keith is almost tempted to turn around to see Lance's face, but in the meantime, he's scared of what he'd see. He doesn't know if Lance is going to tell him that he can't possibly think she was telling the truth (probably) or if he's going to want to believe it, and he's not sure what he'd rather have Lance to think.

"I hope you realize it was fucking dangerous to listen to her instead of running away. Like, I don't know, earlier you said you'd be more careful, and then, it's like you wanted her to fire at you or something." Lance reproaches him, and Keith can't help but feel guilty.

This time, he definitely turns around to face Lance, who lifts his arm just enough for Keith to do that before resting it again on his boyfriend. The gesture confort Keith more than any word ever could.

"I was just so curious. I needed to know more about her. I hate not knowing." He mumbles, but Lance knows that already anyway.

"Curiosity killed the cat." Lance retorts smartly.

"But I'm already dead." Keith jokes, and Lance snorts. That makes Keith smile.

"You're so dumb, why am I in love with you?" Lance pretends to wonder, but Keith can see all the love of the world in his eyes and wow, this is for him.

"I think it's the hair." Keith teases him, and Lance raises his hand to play with Keith's hair, nodding.

"Yeah, definitely the hair." They chuckles. "But seriously, though, what do you think about it?" Lance asks, and even if Keith is relieved he asks instead of assuming and trying to proclaim his own opinion, he has no idea of what to answer.

He groans slightly, rolling on his back to face the ceiling. "I don't know. I'd like to believe her, but I just have that gut feeling that she's a manipulative bitch who's just trying to do.. I don't even know what. She sound so genuine but also so fake it's.. disturbing."

Lance moves closer until their bodies fit against each other like puzzle pieces. He rests his head on Keith's chest. "Two can play this game, right? Maybe we could just.. try and manipulate her too? Make it seems like we believe her so we can learn her secrets. We don't really have a choice anyway, she's not going away."

Keith nods. "Yeah, you're right, except she's going to want to use her device on us and there's no way I'm letting any of you near it. I don't know what it did to me but.." He stops, mentally slapping himself. He decided he wouldn't talk about it not to worry them, but in his will to protect them and make Lance understand how dangerous it looked, he told too much. It's too late now, though.

Lance lifts his head to look at Keith, frowning. "But what?"

"Nothing," Keith tries to reassure him. "I just felt like I've played the violin for a full day before making three apparitions."

Lance looks worried. "What? Why didn't you tell us about that? Do you feel better now?" He asks, cupping Keith's cheek with his hand.

"Yeah, you're helping a lot." He says trustfully, making Lance smile.

"Good. I wasn't planning on letting anyone near that thing anyway, we'll need to win some time. We need a real plan, and to tell the whole team about this."

Keith closes his eyes. "I'm too tired for this but come back later to tell me how it went." He demands, pretending to fall asleep instantly to avoid that unavoidable meeting. He can feel Lance's fingers on his cheek, though, and can't help but smile.

"Are you really that tired or are you being a coward?" Lance teases him, but Keith takes the bait anyway.

"I'm not a coward." He mumbles.

"Okay then, maybe I should stay to help you feel better." Lance offers, then move the rest his body on top of Keith's.

Automatically, Keith's arms wrap around him, pulling him close. Yeah, he definitely feels better already. But then Pidge has to ruin everything by entering their room, screaming and hiding her eyes as soon as she sees them.

Lance snorts loudly, moving next to Keith so he can see her. Or them, as Hunk and Shiro arrive just a second after, alerted by the scream, probably.

"What? What is it?" Hunk panics, and Keith groans. Apparently, privacy and need to rest mean nothing to his friends. He loves them, he really does, with his whole heart, but sometimes, they're just too much.

"They were—"

"Cuddling." Lance cuts Pidge before she can say whatever she thought they were doing.

"Pidge, don't scream for no reason." Shiro asks tiredly, rubbing his eyes with his hand.

"It wasn't—"

"Anyway, care to explain why you're hear and not.. Like, anywhere else?" This time it's Keith who cuts her.

"Yep, can't sleep until we talked so we're doing it now."

Keith groans again, closing his eyes. He can feel Lance moving next to him in a sitting position, but he really has no intention of joining him. Lance shakes him slightly to try and get a reaction, but Keith ignores him. He considers faking snoring, but he decides against it. He doesn't snore anyway.

As Lance starts telling the team about the conversation they just had, Keith opens his eyes again, if only to see his friends's reactions. In a way, he's glad they're having this conversation without Romelle, she doesn't need another fight. She needs them to come with a single solution, not several different ideas.

"I think you guys are right, we don't have a choice here." Pidge is the first to say something after Lance explained their plan.

"Yep, she already knows we're here so there's no use to lie, right? And for her device, we could just tell her we do not wish to leave yet because Romelle needs money or something." Hunk adds.

"I think we should leave." Shiro says, and Keith unconsciously moves into a sitting position because _what did he just say?!_

He's not the only one to be shocked by Shiro's words, they're all looking at him like he grew a second head or something.

"Think about it, guys. We have no idea what the device does, but a second under it and Keith is more tired than he's been in years. Nothing should have this power. Maybe it can completely destroy us. I have no doubt it'd make us disappear, but I don't think it'd make us "move on" and "join our loved ones", I think our souls would just stop existing." Shiro explains, and no one talks, the weigh of Shiro's words heavy in the room.

"Maybe you're right." Keith is the first to talk. "Maybe she'll leave Romelle alone if we're not there anymore." He looks down, fearing that the others will be mad that he once again agrees with Shiro.

"That.. Actually makes sense, yeah. I think we can agree on the fact that she's only interested in us, not the manor. If we're not here, she won't have a reason to be here either." Pidge says slowly.

"But that means losing our home, and Romelle. We don't know for sure Allura would leave her alone." Hunk intervenes, toying with his fingers.

"We'd find a way to check on Romelle, we wouldn't leave her alone. Maybe we could come back later when we're sure Allura is not coming back." Pidge offers.

"I don't know, guys." Hunk mumbles. "What do you think, Lance?" He prompts his best friend, who stayed silent since Shiro talked. Keith can feel how tense he his, and he finds himself stressed about what he's about to say. Because there's no way they're going separate ways.

"I.. I hate the thought of running away, but I saw the device, and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I let any of you near it again." Lance finally says, taking Keith's hand in his own. Keith squeezes his hand.

Hunk nods sadly. "Okay, if you all agree I guess it's settled then."

"Should we tell Romelle tonight or wait until tomorrow?" Pidge asks, and Keith silently pray for them to wait.

"We should do it tonight, maybe she'll sleep better knowing we have a plan." Shiro answers, and Keith internally sighs. Of course he wants to do it right away and be done with it. It's logical. But Keith is really tired.

As the others agree, Lance squeezes Keith's hand, leaning closer to whisper: "You can stay here if you want."

Keith nods, relieved, and waves his friends goodbye when they leave the room. He lays back on the bed, looking back at the stars from the window. Whatever happens, wherever they end up tomorrow, they'll still be there, he'll still see the same stars, and it's a constant he's happy to have.

He closes his eyes, thinking he'll fall asleep easily, but not knowing how Romelle is reacting is keeping him awake. What if she disagree with their plan? There's so many things that could go wrong. He doesn't want to let her down, but protecting his family is more important than anything else.

He's half asleep when he feels Lance coming back in the room. That wakes him up completely, so he turns to Lance. "So?" He asks, trusting him to understand what he means.

"Shit, I didn't want to wake you. Huh, she's scared of what Allura will do to her once she understands that we're gone but she trusts us and doesn't want us to be in danger so she agreed." Lance summarizes, laying down next to Keith, automatically wrapping him in his arms.

"Do you think Allura could hurt Romelle?" Keith frowns. He didn't think about that possibility.

"I don't know, maybe she'll take the house anyway out of spite. It's not worth risking any of us, though, so I guess whatever happens happens and that's it."

Keith nods. Lance has a point, they still could go somewhere else, Romelle could buy a new house and they could start over. It'd be hard, but sometimes, some things aren't worth fighting for.

As long as they stick together, they'll be okay.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy birthday to my favorite boy ever, Keith <3

They find a hut that looks abandoned not far away from the manor. At first, most of them didn't want to settle there, as it's so different from the confort they got used to, but it's the fact they don't like it that is good, because that help them remember it isn't forever. That, and it's close to Romelle's, and they were scared to go too far.

Luckily, they're so used to be together that all being in a small place is bearable. Romelle gave them her phone so she could contact them, and Pidge is doing gods' know what on it, curled up in a corner of the hut. Hunk is looking outside by the window, but his eyes look so empty it's like he's not seeing anything. Shiro left an hour ago to go on a walk. And Lance is sitting in front of Keith at an old table that looks so delicate that Keith is pretty sure it would have collapsed under them if they actually weigh anything.

Keith is unconsciously tapping his fingers on the table, his body already missing the music he can't create anyone, wondering when he'll be able to do that again. It could take weeks, months, even. And he knows he'll hate the frustration of not being as good as he was before the break.

He didn't realize he closed his eyes before a hand is forcing his own to stop moving, making him jump. He immediately opens his eyes, relaxing a bit when he sees Lance, frowning slightly at him. He's standing up now, taking Keith's hands in his. "Come." He prompts him, and Keith doesn't hesitate one moment before following him.

Lance leads him outside silently, perfectly content just to be in each other's presence, no word needed. Keith squeezes his hand, Lance squeezes back, and that's all they need. They go like that for a few minutes, Keith vaguely paying attention only to find their way back later. Losing the group would be the worst thing that could happen.

"Remember that rude dude who insulted you?" Lance suddenly asks, and Keith snorts.

"Which one?"

Lance stops without a warning, making Keith bump into him, groaning slightly to show his annoyance. He turns to Keith, looking outraged that Keith doesn't know who he's talking about.

"You know, the one who said 'that stupid ghost can't even play the violin right' and then you followed him all night, playing perfectly the hardest musics you know?" Lance clarifies, moving his hand as he talks as if it could help Keith understand. Which is useless, Keith remembers now, but it's still cute.

"Oh, yeah, that one. What about him?" He asks, tilting his head because even if it's a funny memory, he doesn't see what it has to do with their current situation.

"He lives.." Lance turns dramatically, pointing his finger in a vague direction. "Right there!" He announces proudly, waiting for Keith's reaction.

Keith looks, but can't see a thing except a house that looks quite old and huge land with a lot of tree. "How do you know that?"

"I saw him on our way here but we were busy and I wanted to do that with just you. He was riding a horse." Lance explains, and to anyone else, this wouldn't make sense, but it's music to Keith's ears because he knows exactly what Lance has in mind.

Keith smiles. "I have feelings for you." He declares, and Lance's cheeks turn red.

"_Keith_, you can't just say _that_." Lance mumbles, hiding his face with his hands, making Keith chuckles. He takes Lance's hands in his owns and gives him a quick kiss.

"It's not my fault you're the best. Come on, let's find him." Keith says, guiding Lance in the direction of the house.

The boy is not in the house, so they look around, hoping he isn't far away. They need a distraction, and if Lance decided it would be that dude, it isn't Keith who is going to deny him that. He never was good to refuse anything to Lance, even before they start dating.

"There!" Lance yells, excited, forcing Keith to stop with their intertwined hands.

Keith looks in the direction Lance is pointing at him, and smirks when he spots him. He doesn't know how Lance recognized him right away, as they had so many visitors, but knowing what to look for, Keith could recognize him. Not for the first time that day, Keith wishes he had the violin with him. Dude is riding a horse, looking confortable, as if riding that horse is as natural as walking, an easy smile on his lips, and Keith wants it to disappear.

They fly to him, only letting go of each other's hand to each be on a different side of the guy. Keith unties the saddle so the guy won't get stuck on the horse and die or be severely injured, he's not that bitter. The guy doesn't realize something changed, but the horse does, as he raises his head a bit, as if trying to understand what just happened.

Lance's fingers make an appearance right in front of the horse, petting his head, startling him. But it's not enough, and they're not here to scare the horse anyway, the poor animal didn't do anything wrong.

"Do you think he's ticklish?" Keith asks Lance, eying the side of the guy.

Lance smirks. "I guess there's only one way to find out."

Keith is the one to try, only making one of his fingers solid to dig it in the guy's side, making him jump so suddenly and brutally that Keith himself is startled, moving backward in a reflex. Lance is laughing so much that he's holding his tummy, bended in two. The horse does a step on the side, wondering what is wrong with the dude riding him, but it's still not enough to send him flying on the ground as he rapidly grab the horse's mane to steady himself.

"That dude is annoying." Keith comments, glaring at Lance who's still laughing. It would be irritating if Keith didn't like that sound so much. But he does and Lance deserves to have fun, so he's far from mad at him.

"Sure thing, babe. Wanna try throwing stuff at him? I think there's an apple tree not far.." Lance turns around, probably looking for said apple tree, but Keith shakes his head, then realize Lance can't see him as he's looking for the tree.

"No, I wanna see him fall in the mud." Keith pouts. If the guy just ran away, it's not good enough. Said guy is already frantically looking all around himself, trying to understand what just touch him. He already looks like he's about to run away and Keith is not allowing that to happen.

"Your wish is my command." Lance only says before pulling on the saddle so hard it throws the guy out of balance. He only has time to yell, trying to catch something, anything, that could save him from landing on the dirty ground. But it's useless, and the horse runs away in the direction of the house as the guy lands in the mud with a disgusting noice.

He immediately tries to get up, but slips and falls back on his ass. It's pathetic, but Keith decides the dude deserves it for being a jerk, so he laughs more than he did in a long time. He notices Lance looking at him fondly and smiles at him.

"Thanks." He tells him, his laughter slowly dying as he calms himself.

After that, they come back to the hut to check if Shiro is back, and they're not disappointed. Keith's brother is sitting at the old table, Pidge and Hunk in front of him.

"Hey." Keith greets him, them, as he and Lance enter the hut.

"Oh, you're back from your date already?" Pidge says, not even looking away from Romelle's phone.

"It wasn't—"

"Yeah, we had a great time." Lance cuts him, putting his arm around Keith's shoulders. "We—"

"I don't want to know!" This time, it's Pidge who cuts him, only looking up to scowl at him.

"Your loss. Anyway, anything new, Shiro?"

"No. I tried to get closer to the manor to see if Allura was there already but I didn't want her to see me so I didn't see anything. We'll have to wait for Romelle to send news." Shiro explains.

Hours passed without them getting anything, and the wait is slowly killing them. Well, killing them a second time. At some point, Pidge decided to take a nap on Lance's knees, himself sleeping with his head on Hunk, himself sleeping against the wall. Shiro is still sitting at the table, his eyes fixed on the phone, but Keith is pretty sure he's not really seeing anything anymore.

Keith is pacing back and forth around the table, unable to stay still. Finally, he gives up and passes through the wall to get outside. Even Shiro doesn't try to stop him, proof that his friends are really somewhere else right now. He doesn't know where he's going, but he can't just stay unmoving anymore.

It's finally dark outside, and it's the time of the day that Keith prefers. Right now, it's so calm he feels like he's alone in the world, and it's weird because now, for Keith, the night isn't at all a time for silence. It's a time for screaming people. He knows Romelle cancelled tonight's show. He knows she told Allura they ran away hours ago, and that the business is over. He doesn't know how Allura reacted. But she's probably gone by now, right? Maybe Keith could just.. Go back to the manor to check, really quickly?

Keith starts to fly in the direction of the manor before his mind really decided of what to do. It's probably safe to go now, and he can't stop himself from going anyway. After a few minutes only, he can see the manor, and immediately feels better. It's his home. It's been his home for years. And he's going to get it back.

He approaches, slowing down to judge the situation. There's no car next to Romelle's, but that doesn't mean anything. Keith is surprised, even, because he didn't think Luka would have left Romelle's side so early. He thought she would have stayed at least until the morning.

Keith hears a scream, and his blood runs cold. _Of course_ something's wrong, because Romelle never sent them a message saying how it went like she was supposed to. Keith panics. His instinct yells at him to go and help Romelle however he can, to just do something, anything. But his reason tells him to go back for the others and get backup. Except if he does that, there's the chance it'll be too late when they come back. So screw his reason.

Once again, his body reacts almost on his own, and he's rushing to the house. He knows the screaming came from the attic, and that makes him feel a bit better, because it's the room he knows the best with his and Lance's room. Lance. Keith feels a pang of guilt thinking about him, breaking once again his promise to be careful with this. But Lance would understand, Keith's sure he'd do the same.

The only annoying thing with the attic is that it doesn't have any window for Keith to judge the situation before going in. No, he has to come inside to see what's happening, and Allura will immediately know he's here. And he's sure she's prepared, only using his friend as a prey.

When Romelle screams a second time, Keith stops to hesitate and rushes inside..

.. Only to find no one but Allura and Lotor.

Keith mentally slaps himself. How can he be that dumb? Of course they're not torturing Romelle. He just got fooled by a fake scream, played on a computer, amplified by a speaker. What an idiot.

"He's here." Allura announces to Lotor, straightening up. "You're the same one as yesterday, right?" She asks in Keith's direction this time, but he doesn't do anything to answer. She already knows, and it's not like she can understand anyway.

He tries going backward slowly enough so she won't notice until he's out, but she's observant and before he can react, her magic gun is pointed at him.

"One more move and I'll send you away." She threatens him, and at her voice, he knows she's serious.

It's like there's a fog in his brain because Keith can't think of anything to save himself. He's paralyzed by fear, and even if he could move, it would only send him gods know where because she wouldn't hesitate.

"I bet you're curious of what it'll do. I bet you think we're evil. But we're not." Allura adds, and Keith wonders why she feels the need to tell him that.

"You don't have to justify yourself, Allura. It's for the greatest good. Just his essence would save hundreds." Lotor interferes and Allura nods, her grip on the gun tightens. And it's then that Keith thinks he understands. He never paid attention to Lotor, but maybe he should have. Maybe he's the brain behind the plan and not just Allura's puppet, nicely following her around.

"I know it doesn't look fair to you," she continues, looking at Keith. "But we're trying to fix something. You're already dead, so sacrificing you isn't that bad if it'll save so many living persons, right?" She says, her voice trembling, but her hands steady.

And Keith doesn't know what to do. He feels like he could try to change her mind if only he could be heard, but he has no choice but to be a silent spectator here. She sounds like she's expecting some kind of a blessing to destroy him, well she's not going to get anything from him. If he goes down, she'll have to deal with her guilt.

"Maybe his soul will really move on, Allura, maybe you're saving him like you'll save the patients." Lotor reassures her, and she nods.

Her finger moves, ready to fire at him when Lance flies into the attic from behind them, rushing to Allura to punch her. Keith doesn't hesitate before he does the same to Lotor before he can do anything to help her. He tries to maintain him on the ground, but he's way to strong for Keith's ghost grip, managing to get away from him. Next to him, Lance isn't much luckier, as Allura escapes him. At the same time, Lotor grabs the gun.

Keith feels like he's dying a second time when he aims it at Lance, but he's not paralyzed this time. He rushes in front of Lance to protect him from whatever this thing does.

"One move and I'll shot you both." He threatens, and this second threat is infinitely worst for Keith because disappearing is a thing he can accept, but Lance disappearing, especially because of him, is something he'll never be okay with.

Allura stands up next to him, then looks back at Keith and Lance and stops, her month opened in shock.

"Their.. their essences they.. I thought I imagined it yesterday but it's so clear now. It's purple." She says in awe, but even Lotor seems confused.

"What are you talking about? And how is it relevant?" Lotor asks, curious, weirdly patient.

"The first one's essence is red. The second one is blue. Now they're purple. Their essences resonate with each other, they're lovers." She declares, a weird emotion in her voice.

Keith has no idea of what is happening, nor if it's good or bad for them, but feeling Lance's arms around him makes him feel better.

"Okay, good for them, but how is it relevant?" Lotor asks again, this time a bit annoyed. "Is their common essence stronger?"

She shakes her head. "No, I don't think so but.. I think the blue one came to rescue the other, he already did that the other day but.. I think they have feelings, memories, thoughts." She looks so confused that Keith almost feels sorry for her.

"It's not possible, they're just echos, remainders of people that once were. It's a miracle the red one was able to write." Allura's voice is shaking once again, and it all become clearer in Keith's mind. Whatever the couple think they know about them, it's wrong. Maybe the truth could save them, but how to let them know?

"Lotor, I.. I think this is wrong. I want to help fix your father's mistake, but not by killing people." Allura says, and Keith feels Lance's grip on him tightening.

"They're already dead, Allura. But thousands could be saved." Lotor contracts her, and Keith wants to punch him again.

"If it destroy their souls, it's even worst than what your father did, and I don't want to become like that!" The emotion in Allura's voice gives Keith hope, but it's too soon to allow himself to believe her. He still doesn't know where Romelle is or if she's okay.

"We should try to escape, go down really fast or something." Lance whispers in Keith's ear, but it's enough for Allura to hear and turn her head back in their direction.

"They're talking." She tells Lotor, not looking away from them. "I wanna talk to them before deciding anything." She announces, not letting place for negotiation.

Lotor immediately nods, and Keith wonders once again who's really in charge between the two of them. He gives the gun back to Allura, then looks around until his eyes find the music sheets on the piano. He takes them, turn them over, and grabs a pen from his bag. He puts the pen on the papers, and moves them closer to Keith and Lance.

Allura sighs nervously. "Okay, you already know who I am. Now I wanna know about you." She demands, but this time, her voice is not shaking, and Keith guesses she's someone who's used to give order and never be contradicted.

Keith decides to take the pen, knowing Lance will watch his back. He also knows it's their best chance.

_I'm Keith. My boyfriend's Lance. We died in a car crash when we were 17 and since then, we're haunting this place. It's our home, and we're having fun playing with the visitors. Where is Romelle?_

He deliberately left the others out of his explanation, hoping that if everything goes wrong, they can at least be saved and start over somewhere else, without Allura and Lotor hunting them. He knows it's only wishful thinking, that his brother would never give up on him, and neither would Pidge and Hunk. If Lance went looking for him, then they'll probably do the same soon, it could make everything more complicated. They don't have much time.

"It's nice to meet you both. Romelle left with her friend, she was too upset to drive. I asked her to leave my house when she told me the deal was off the table because you left." Allura explains calmly, not even looking guilty for stealing Romelle's home. She turns to Lotor. "It seems like they care about her."

"But they can't, she can't even communicate with them." Lotor argues.

Keith takes the pen again.

_Romelle's our friend. She welcomed us in her home, understood us even if she can't see or hear us. We talked through her computer like I'm talking to you now. It's exactly the same._

Allura reads, then nods. She looks lost for words for a moment.

"I see.. That's.. Unexpected." She turns to Lotor. "I don't know if I can do that. They're kids, they're conscious, thinking, I can't just execute them!"

Lotor opens his mouth and for an awful moment, Keith thinks he'll argue again, or take the gun she slowly lowered and shoot them himself, but he nods, putting his hand on her shoulder to confort her. It's then that Keith understands what he missed. He was trying to guess who's the one in charge, but they're a team, they're in love, just like Keith and Lance, and he bets this information is part of what perturbed Allura. He thought they were just one of these couples only together for money, but maybe they aren't. Maybe they could understand how wrong they are and change their minds.

"It's okay, Allura. I don't have your gift, but I believe you, and I won't become like my father. We don't have to do his dirty work." Lotor says softly.

Allura puts the gun on the floor, shaking. "I can't believe I almost did that." She whispers while Lotor takes her in his arms.

Behind him, Keith feels Lance's head resting on his shoulder, his tensed body slightly relaxing. Keith squeezes his hand, unable to relax just yet. Allura already tried to fool him once, he doesn't think he'll ever be able to trust her.

Time seems to stop as all happens at the same moment. Shiro, Pidge and Hunk arrive in the attic, all from different wall, surprising both Allura and Lotor as he jumps when she suddenly moves away from his arms, reaching for her gun. Instinctively, Keith reaches for it too, giving all his strength to send the damn thing away from them, in Shiro's direction.

Luckily, Shiro is fast to react too as Lotor runs in the gun's direction, crushing it under his foot. Lotor stops, scared as the thing sparkles, as if it's about to explode. Shiro seems to fear the same thing as he screams : "Get out of here!"

They all fly through the walls to escape as the device does explode, but the explosion is small, only making a small hole in the manor's roof. Nothing enough to hurt Allura or Lotor. Keith doesn't know if he should feel relieved or not, but he's glad they can't hurt them anymore.

A weird pinkish smoke escapes from the hole, and Keith can't be sure, but he's almost certain it's some ghosts' essences she took before she finds them. He can only hope that destroying the device freed their souls, that they're not just destroyed. He'll never know for sure, but he wants to believe they saved them.

"Should we go back?" Lance asks next to Keith as they all fly to each other.

"First, tell us what the hell happened." Pidge says, and Lance quickly resumes the events. When he's done, everyone stays silent for a few moments, thinking. Then, Shiro turns to Keith.

"Do you believe them?" He asks him, and Keith looks back at the attic, bitting his bottom lips. Shiro trusts his judgement, and he doesn't want to choose the wrong answer. But he doesn't even know if there is a right answer here.

"No." He simply answers, honestly.

Shiro nods, then turns to Lance. "Lance?" He prompts him.

Keith looks at Lance, already looking at him. Lance looks away. "I think everyone deserves a second chance. They sounded genuine. But I can't forget what they tried to do. Not yet, anyway." He looks back at Keith, waiting for his reaction. Keith just takes his hand in his own, squeezing it. Lance squeezes back.

"Why did they attack us, though, if they're nice, now?" Hunk asks with reason.

"That's what we should try to find out." Pidge agrees.

So they all go back together, Keith and Lance in the front line as the couple already knows them. When they're back in the attic, the couple immediately looks at them, fear in their eyes as they can't defend themselves anymore. Keith wants to scare them to death, make them run away for their life, never to return again. Next to him, Lance doesn't look to think any different.

Allura raises her hands in front of them in a calming gesture. "I'm so sorry! I was surprised, I didn't know there was others. Or that they were friendly." She explains, voice surprisingly not shaking.

"Not that friendly." Pidge mumbles.

"What should we say?" Keith asks, going for the pen once again. But Shiro just takes it himself, writing. When Keith manages to read what he wrote, he chuckles.

**Go away from our home**

Allura reads and turns pale. "_Please_, I'm sure we can—"

She stops when Shiro throws the pen at her face. Lotor grabs her hand, pulling her to the door. "We're leaving, _now_."

She tries to protest, but gives out after a few seconds. They hear them running all the way downstairs, then the front door slams and it's silent again.


	5. Chapter 5

"Keith."

"_Keith_."

Keith groans and moves, but only to hide his face better in the pillow. It's not his fault it smells so good, or that the bed is so confortable and warm.

"For gods' sake, Keith, _move_. It's starting."

A hand shakes his shoulder, so Keith tries to push it away, but instead, he catches it and decides to hug it. He likes this hand, it feels nice, reassuring. Still half asleep, he kisses it, rubbing his nose against it. He hears someone chuckling.

"I really hope you know it's me and that you don't just do that to anyone."

A smile finds its natural place on Keith's lips. He intertwines his fingers with Lance's, pulling him closer. Or trying to, anyway, as Lance resists. Keith opens his eyes slowly, frowning. It's not everyday that Lance doesn't give in when Keith wants to cuddle. But while opening his eyes, Keith realizes it's not their bedroom around them. It's the living room. He's lying on the couch, not the bed, Lance's jacket as a pillow.

Suddenly, he remembers. They were planning new things, and he was so tired. He can't see the others, though, so they must have left the room already. _It's starting_, Lance said. Keith slowly straightens up, finally registering what Lance said a minute ago.

"Oh, so it finally reached your brain." Lance makes fun of him. Keith glares at him, but still doesn't let go of his hand. Only to help himself up, obviously.

"Shut up, McClain." He mumbles.

"Make me." Lance dares him.

Keith snorts. "No." He let go of Lance's hand, pretending to go away even if he slept during most of the meeting so he has no idea if he's supposed to be somewhere precise right now. It's okay, though. He likes improvising.

Lance runs after him anyway, catching him by the arm to force him to stop. "Come on, Keith, don't be like that!" Lance pouts, and it's adorable, so Keith's lips betray him by smiling. Lance takes the occasion to steal a kiss, and of course, Keith isn't mad about it.

"Ok first, that's disgusting, and second, move your asses, they're here."

They separate at Pidge's voice, but when they turn to her, she's already gone. Well, she didn't have to interrupt them just to say that.

"She's right. Wanna play a duet with me?" Lance asks shyly as if Keith could ever say no to that. So Keith grins at him, taking his hand in his own to drag him up to the attic.

The hole in the wall wasn't really fixed yet, Romelle just put some tarpaulin to block most of the wind, but it's not too cold outside yet, so it doesn't stop the visitor to come. They play a minute or two before people arrive, but Keith decides not to stop playing, laughing when he walks in the visitors' direction and they start screaming.

One girl stays when all the others run away, and Keith smiles. He likes daring guests, they're not common, they remind him of himself when he was still alive and could still be scared by stuff like that. He continues to walk in her direction until he hears her holding her breath, bravely staying there.

Lance turns his head to look at Keith, his fingers messing up the melody, then stopping when he can't catch up. The girl looks in the piano's direction for less than a second, not daring stop looking at the violin in the air in front of her. When her eyes are back in Keith direction, he gives in and appears in front of her, just for a moment, still playing, before disappearing again, already feeling the exhaustion of the effort. But Lance's arms are already wrapping around Keith, supporting him.

A scared whine escapes the girl's throat, but she stays again. Keith frowns, confused. There's something weird about her, so different from every other guest they had in years. She's like a mystery Keith wants to solve, to understand.

"She's crying." Lance whispers in his ears, and indeed, Keith notices tears on her cheeks. For the first time in a long time, Keith feels guilty. Maybe she's just too scared to move, paralyzed. He stops playing, and Lance takes the violin and the bow front his hand to put them back on the piano.

The girl's reaction is immediate: she panics, her breathing fast. "No, please, stay!"

Keith exchanges a look with Lance, but Lance shrugs, as lost as he is.

"I just.. You're really here, right?" She asks with a shaking voice, and Keith automatically places himself in front of Lance, not liking the sound of that. The last time someone talked like that, it almost didn't end well, and he's not ready to let anything happen to his friends. "Please I.. I need to know if.." She stops, sobbing hard, and Keith feels his heart breaking at the sight. "I.. I think there's someone in my room but not a.. a living person." She bursts into tears, and Keith feels Lance squeeze his hand.

"Should we..?" He asks, unsure of how to react.

Lance shakes his head. "She's that scared because she fears there's really someone, imagine if she had the confirmation. And we don't even know if there's a ghost, or if they're friendly."

Keith nods. "And it could be a trap. It's too risky."

"Yeah, that too."

The girl wipes her cheeks, waits a few more moments, then turns around slowly. It pains Keith, but he knows he can't do anything for her.

After that, Lance leaves to do something with Hunk, and Keith finds Shiro, or rather, he's looking for something to do when he flies in a corridor and sees Shiro's head on the floor. He jumps, then chuckles, shaking his head. He can't believe this guy is his brother.

"What the fuck, Shiro?" He asks, half laughing.

"I wanted to try a new kind of apparition." Shiro explains, trying to stay serious, but Keith can guess he's about to laugh too.

Keith grins. "Imagine if people just see the rest of your body hanging from the ceiling dumbly."

Shiro's mouth drops opened. "I.. Actually didn't think about that. Could be scary, right?"

"Yeah, scary how ridiculous you'd look." Keith makes fun of him, but doesn't have time to react as Shiro rushes to him, jokingly wrestling with Keith, who fights back after a second of shock. They laugh, and Keith loses all strength in his arms, unable to turn Shiro's attack back. His legs gives in under him, making him fall on the ground, taking Shiro in his fall. Shiro finally let go of him to catch his breath.

"You're the worst brother ever." Shiro announces.

Keith smiles. "Love you too." He answers, a bit out of breath. "You know, you could just concentrate on only making your head appear."

Shiro's mouth opens, then closes again, then opens to answer. "It's actually.. Yeah, should have thought about that, shouldn't I?"

Keith pats Shiro's arm, faking compassion. "It's okay, old man."

Shiro huffs. "I'll go do that now. Wanna come?" He stands up, offering a hand to Keith.

"Sure." Keith says, but Shiro takes his hand away as Keith tries to take it, a mocking grin on his lips. "Seriously?" Keith scowls at him, standing up by himself easily, but still faking annoyance just for the sake of it.

Shiro chuckles, then passes thought the corridor's wall, and Keith hurries to follow him. They find Hunk, who's sending flying cupcakes on three teenagers. Keith snorts as one is hit right on the forehead, but as his friend seems to handle the situation, he continues to look for victims with Shiro.

Shiro finally stops in the library, where they're about to start a show when they recognize her. _Allura_.

Keith immediately puts his hand on Shiro's mouth, pulling him though the wall to leave the room. The thing about Allura, is that Keith still can't decide what he thinks of her. A few day after their altercation, Romelle received a new letter from her, announcing she was officially giving her the manor, and the papers attesting it's true (Pidge checked). She also apologized, explaining what all of this was about: Lotor's father made an experimentation that got a lot of people sick, and the couple just wanted to fix things for the patients. About a week after, the matter was brought to the public, and Lotor's father was to be judged soon. Still, Keith is unable to just forgive her that easily. She's allowed to visit from time to time, but that doesn't mean Keith has to like it.

"I don't want you to appear in front of her." Keith demands, and Shiro nods, understanding. "But I want to scare the shit out of her."

"Wanna throw a book at her?" Shiro offers, and Keith chuckles.

"That's not enough to make her scream." He argues, thinking.

"No, but it'd be fun." Shiro says. "She can hear us, right?"

"Only ultrasounds. _Oh_." Keith understands, smiling. Maybe it wouldn't really scare her, but it'd be unpleasant, and it's already good.

They go back inside, and slowly, carefully, Keith approaches behind her back, until he's right behind her, so close that closer would be to touch her, and that's something he definitely doesn't want to do. He looks at Shiro, who sends him a thumb up from behind.

"Boo!" He yells as loud as he can in Allura's ear, flying to Shiro's side right after, just in case.

Allura jumps violently and screams in the meantime, looking around until she sees them. Or their essences. Or whatever she can see of them. She brings a hand over her heart, still shocked, but she's smiling. "Hello there, Keith, Black. It's been a long time. I'm just passing by to inform you we destroyed the laboratory. I guess some things are best left unknown. I wish I could use my gift to do some good, but maybe it's a mistake and I shouldn't have it at all. Maybe my mother was right to ignore it."

As an answer, Shiro drops a book on the ground and Keith snorts. He thinks she's genuine, he wants to be able to trust her some day. He wishes she could be a good support for Romelle, family. He'll just have to wait and see.

"Are y'all cleaning the mess you make when the night's over? One book for yes, two for no." She asks playfully, and the brothers decide to play along, each throwing a book. She chuckles. "Is that supposed to mean you both clean, or that you don't?"

This time, they both throw as many books as they can in one go.

"Definitely a no, I think." She laughs. "I'm gonna head off, now. I'll come back soon enough." She announces, smiling as she leaves the room.

Except 'soon enough' comes faster than either of them could have imagined.

It's the end of the night, and the last visitors are leaving. Hunk and Pidge did a competition to see which one of them could appear the most before fading so now, they're gods' know where, but Keith isn't worried, they'll be fine. He's looking for Lance when he passes in front of the living room and hears voices. He recognizes Romelle, of course, then Allura, and to his surprise, the girl from the attic.

It's enough to stop him, curious, and maybe a bit anxious. He hides behind the door so Allura won't know he's here, but Lance blows his cover by throwing himself at Keith. "Babe! I thought you—"

Keith shushes him by putting his hand on Lance's mouth, but it's too late, he can see Allura's eyes on him. He waits to be called out or something, but she just smiles and looks back at the girl in front of her. Keith frowns, she never lost an occasion to say she knows they're here.

Lance takes Keith's hand away from his mouth. "What? What did I do?" Lance asks, lost, and Keith understands he has no idea Allura's almost right next to them.

Keith smiles at him to reassure him. "Nothing, I was just trying to spy on Allura discretely." He explains, pointing her out with his eyes. Lance follows his eyes, shocked when he spots Allura.

"It's that same girl from earlier, think they're together?" Lance questions smartly.

Keith shrugs. "No idea, that's why I wanted to spy of them. But Romelle's there so I guess it's okay." Keith says. Romelle is the only living person he trusts totally, he knows she has their back.

The girl says her goodbyes to Romelle and Allura and leaves. So much for spying. Keith rushes into the living room, Lance close behind him. He wants to know, needs to know what this is about. Luckily, Allura guesses that much, as she's already looking in their direction.

"Hello, Keith, Lance." She greets them with her eternal mysterious smile.

"Hey, guys!" Romelle adds happily, waving at them, her eyes a meter to their left. Close enough.

"I have to go, unfortunately, but I'm sure we'll see each other soon." Allura turns to Romelle. "I'll update you soon about this, maybe I finally found a way to use that gift of mine after all." She announces.

"I hope it works as you wish. Goodbye!" Romelle answers, genuinely happy for Allura because she's great like that. Allura leaves, then Romelle turns back in the general direction of Keith and Lance. "That girl was here because she thinks there's a ghost in her place but I think you already know that? She said she thinks she was with two of you playing music and that can only be you two, right? I didn't confirm you're real, I get why you didn't either, and Allura didn't too, but she offered to go to her place and check if she sees or hears anything. I'll let you know when I hear from her again. Can you tell that to the others too? I'm going to bed now."

She waits a moment, then leaves to her bedroom.

The truth is: Keith has no idea of what he thinks of this. A part of him still wants to be careful with Allura, but another one really starts to like her. It's a gut feeling, really, the same kind of feeling that convinced him that she was dangerous a few weeks ago, but as Lance said, everyone deserves a second chance, and maybe she deserves it.

"Well, that's something." Keith comments simply, knowing Lance will understands what he means. They can interpret each other's facial expressions so well now that sometimes it's almost scary, but generally, it's just practical, especially in times like this, when Keith would be unable to express with words the conflicted thoughts that run on his mind.

Lance chuckles, taking Keith's hand in his own to guide him up to their bedroom. "Yeah, that's a way to put it." Lance mocks him when they arrive, going directly for the bed. They're both exhausted, and they find their natural place in each other's arms.

"Seriously, though," Lance continues, and Keith can tell by his face that he is really serious. "Imagine if there's an actual ghost at that girl's place. Maybe.. Do you think that.. I don't know. I just.. Ugh."

Keith frowns. He may be the one who knows Lance the most in the entire world, he has no idea of what he's trying to communicate here. He doesn't interrupt him, though, giving him the time to find his words. They have all the time in the world anyway. So instead, he starts drawing random patterns on Lance's arm with his finger. Slowly, he can feel Lance relax.

"Okay, so," Lance tries again. "Imagine it's real. Maybe.. Maybe we could like.. Go there? And talk to them? If they're bothering her, maybe try and convince them to stop? Help them? I don't know, but I think it could be a cool thing to do. See the world again, especially if it becomes something Allura does regularly."

Keith stays silent for a long moment after that, his finger stopping his drawings for a second when Lance finally got to his point, but starting again right away. He feels weird. It's not really fear, or excitement, but maybe a bit of both. Fear of what that could change for them, fear to lose one of them, but also excitement because he always dreamed to travel the world. And the idea of meeting new people, people that could actually see him, hear him, people that he could touch, it's everything.

"I.. I think it could be so fucking great. But.. What about the manor?" He asks, his loyalty to Romelle stronger than his will to travel.

"It's not opened all the time so we could go those days, or maybe we wouldn't have to all go all the time so—"

"We're staying together." Keith immediately cuts him, as his stomach knots at the thought of splitting up. They're his family, and he always felt like if they were to be separated for some reason, they'd never find each other again. He'll never be ready to lose them, not for anything, ever.

"Okay, okay, closed days then, and only if everyone wants to go. Deal?" Lance corrects himself.

"Deal." Keith agrees, smiling softly. He's already falling asleep, and doesn't do anything against that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And it's done!  
I'm so happy I managed to finish this in time.  
I left the ending opened, feel free to imagine their following adventures and who they'll meet on the road!


End file.
